NiSystems blog

On May 12, 2017, many organizations around the world and the critical systems they depend on were victims of malicious “WannaCrypt” software. Microsoft is working to ensure they are taking all possible actions to protect their customers. Below we have given further details of the threat and steps every individual and business should take to stay protected. Additionally, Microsoft is taking the highly unusual step of providing a security update for all customers to protect Windows platforms that are in custom support only, including Windows XP, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2003. Customers running Windows 10 were not targeted by the attack today.

In March, Microsoft released a security update which addresses the vulnerability that these attacks are exploiting. Unfortunately, the malware appears to have affected computers that have not applied the patch for these vulnerabilities. While the attack is unfolding, we remind users to install MS17-010 if they have not already done so. Microsoft anti malware telemetry constantly monitors for such threats, and alerted us to this attack. These systems gave us the visibility and context around the attach, allowing Windows Defender Antivirus to deliver real-time defense. Through automated analysis, machine learning, and predictive modeling, Microsoft was able to protect many up-to-date systems against this malware.

Steps to prevent and protect against this threat

To get the latest protection from Microsoft, upgrade to Windows 10. Keeping your computers up-to-date gives you the benefits of the latest features and proactive mitigation built into the latest versions of Windows.

We recommend customers that have not yet installed the security update MS17-010 do so as soon as possible. Until you can apply the patch, we also recommend two possible workarounds to reduce the attack surface:

The internet is great for catching up with what your friends are doing on Social networks, but more than that, the internet is a great source of information. There are countless websites out there that are geared to make you smarter and more brilliant for either a low or no cost.

Under oceans across the world, hundreds of shipwrecks lie silent and forgotten. Having set sail to discover, trade, or wage war, the boats never reached safe harbour and exist now as time capsules beneath the waves.

When they took to the seas, some of these vessels were the state of the art, laden with some of the most advanced technology of their era. Now, thanks to the most advanced tech of our time, some long-sought wrecks are finally being found and explored for the first time.

TechRepublic talked to the teams behind some of the most high-profile shipwrecks to be discovered in recent years to find out how they've located the ships and uncovered their secrets—including a 2,000 year old device that may have been the world's first computer.

Teams have gone through months of preparation, including diet, sleep and fitness analysis, with much of this data gathered through manual and automated wearable means. Before the game, video analysts working parallel to the coaches and players consume hours of tape to understand offensive and defensive plays, reviewing all the data and creating plays to counter

A digital sign can be standalone or part of a network of hundreds or thousands of signs. It can be managed one-by-one or centrally managed from a remote location. Whatever the size or scope of a digital signage solution, the basic components include:

Display: HD flat-panel screens (LCD or plasma), handling a wide range of media inputs, increasingly with touch capabilities and the ability to interact with mobile devices

Decommissioning systems for disposal or resale requires the secure deletion of data originally stored on the drives; however, the process of doing this is often based more in superstition than in science. These methods may have had some utility 20 years ago, but are not valid for newer drive formats.

Before moving forward, there are a few considerations to be mindful of in this inquiry.

From a data security standpoint, destroying hard drives is preferable to wiping them. This is not always possible, and — depending on your level of precaution — you may want to wipe the drives before handing them off to a third party for destruction.

The data on the drive should be encrypted to begin with, particularly on solid-state drives. Data recovery is basically impossible in cases where the drive data is encrypted.

When massive organizations likeSony,Home Depot, and theOffice of Personnel Managementare hacked they grab equally massive headlines. Yet, while they rarely grab headlines, small and middle-market companies are particularly susceptible to hacks, said Chris Crellin, Vice President of Product Management atIntronis, a data protection firm, because many SMBs can't afford to employ a security team, or are uninformed of the risks posed by attackers.

"A lot of companies rely on the idea of 'security through obscurity,'" said Crellin. "They're focused on running their business and probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about hackers."

These attackers probably aren't interested in any one particular small business, said Crellin, but they tend to rely on a shotgun strategy. "Small and middle-market businesses are targets because there are so many of them. It's like a thief in a parking lot looking for one unlocked car." If your organization is unlocked, he said, you're a likely target.

IBM researchers said they overcame stubborn challenges in building computer memory out of carbon instead of silicon, which could allow for systems that are faster and sturdier than conventional flash memory or RAM.

Carbon electronics research began at the end of the 20th century, but there were at least two nagging problems. The material must survive at the high temperatures needed in the circuit manufacturing process and in the data read/write process. Also, it must be pliable enough to quickly change states — from a zero to a one and back — yet stable enough to remain non-volatile when needed.

The Anna Kournikova virus is so named because it tricked its recipients into thinking they were downloading a sexy picture of the tennis star. Financial damages associated with Kournikova were limited, but the virus had a big pop culture impact: It became a plot point in a 2002 episode of the sitcom Friends

For years businesses have tried to use general purpose workstations to manage their digital signage networks. They failed. Time and time again expensive equipment, complex setup procedures, and ongoing maintenance headaches conspired against them and stood in their way of achieving a very basic goal: a simple, scalable, and secure screen network that anyone could use to communicate effectively with people where and when it matters most.

The days of general purpose computing are finally giving way to a new era where cost-effective, single purpose devices can be used as simple, reliable appliances that do one job, and do it well.

Brand marketers and retail networks use the technology to publish digital signage content on screens inside their stores. Health clinics, university campuses and other kinds of venues use it to engage and entertain their visitors. It's part of a growing technology arena called place-based media that is rapidly turning TV screens outside the home into location-specific media channels. High quality animated content now takes only seconds to create. Text, video and images can be mixed and matched into hundreds of possible screen designs. Content creation is easy and quick - no experience required.

Easily create and display professional looking contenton multiple displays from one central log in account

Enable your team to easily make real-time updatesand changes to your content through our industry leading content management system.

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